West Seattle, Washington
10 Saturday
Dick’s Drive-In fans were excited to hear that the local burger chain chose West Seattle as one of the first five places it will bring its new food truck. Tonight, Dick’s revealed the date and time – this Friday, 11 am-2 pm, outside Easy Street Records in The Junction. This will be the fourth stop, after Bellevue (last Friday), Everett (last Saturday), and Renton (yesterday); the stops were the result of voting, as we reported in September. The truck will sell burgers and shakes – no fries.
Here are the local/state pandemic-related toplines:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: First, from the Seattle-King County Public Health daily-summary dashboard, the cumulative totals:
*50,970 people have tested positive, 644 more than yesterday’s total
*920 people have died, 15 more than yesterday’s total
*3,523 people have been hospitalized, 37 more than yesterday’s total
*699,809 people have been tested, 37,323 more than yesterday’s total (data catchup continues)
One week ago, the four totals we track were 45,811/878/3,247/628,477.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them, county by county, on the state Department of Health page,.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: See them, nation by nation, here.
PARK WEST OUTBREAK: The skilled-nursing/rehab center in North Admiral tells WSB that 4 patients have died recently of COVID-19; 34 patients and 8 staff members have tested positive.
VACCINE UPDATES & MORE @ STATE BRIEFING: This afternoon’s weekly briefing by state health officials included these notes: If the US’s first vaccine approval happens this week as expected, vaccinations could start in our state next week. By the end of December, our state expects to receive 222,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 180,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine. 189 providers are already signed up and more applications are being reviewed … 1,125,000+ WA Notify downloads so far … Statewide, the hospitalization-rate increase has slowed … You can watch the briefing here.
GOT INFO? Email us at westseattleblog@gmail.com or phone us, text or voice, at 206-293-6302 – thank you!
Thanks to Marc for tonight’s photo, as we continue showcasing Christmas lights around West Seattle. At 6007 36th SW [map], this display features “an inflatable Santa, lit-up playhouse, and illuminated sidewalk.” We’re adding it to the lights/decorations section of the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide; thanks to everyone who’s been sending suggestions, with or without photos – westseattleblog@gmail.com – enjoy this season of light!
(Reader photo)
A week and a half ago, we reported that the low-bridge enforcement cameras would be installed this week. SDOT says that’s happening tomorrow (Thursday, December 10th), and that means a traffic alert:
New cameras will be installed Thursday, December 10. On Thursday, the Low Bridge will be reduced to one lane (so that vehicles can travel in only one direction at a time) from as early as 9 a.m. to as late as 3 p.m. A flagger will be present to guide people who are authorized to drive on the Low Bridge. Please be aware that the flagger is present and be prepared to stop if you are driving in either direction.
The cameras are expected to be activated in January. Here’s an update from SDOT on exactly how the camera enforcement system will work, as well as a refresher on current rules regarding low-bridge use.
We’ve learned of another local COVID-19 outbreak. Word of the outbreak at Park West Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in North Admiral came from relatives’ tips. Today a spokesperson for the center confirmed it, with this statement:
We grieve with all families who are dealing with loss. At Park West Nursing and Rehabilitation Center there are 4 residents whose recent deaths are attributed to Covid-19.
There are 34 residents on-site who have tested positive for Covid-19. Residents who have tested positive for Covid-19 are in cohort and resting in a designated area of our facility. There is a dedicated team of clinical care professionals and support staff tending to the group of residents who have Covid-19.
There are 8 staff members who have tested positive for Covid-19. The staff members who tested positive are off-site and in quarantine.
Updates about each resident’s health status are being provided by our nursing care leaders directly to each resident’s primary contact. …
In addition, we are in communication with Public Health – Seattle & King County, Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), Washington State Department of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Our care teams participate in ongoing training. Since April, we have trained regularly to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 and we continue to apply infection control protocols. Our facility is supplied with personal protective equipment (PPE) and staff is trained in PPE usage for themselves and to help residents.
At this time, we have a No Visitors policy in place.
Park West is a rehab facility as well as a skilled-nursing center. It’s in the 98116 zip code, which has recorded 9 deaths so far in the pandemic.
Last week in West Seattle Crime Watch, we published a short SPD “Significant Incident Report” summary about an alleged hate-crime incident that ultimately involved SWAT officers. Today, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office announced that a felony charge is filed against the suspect in the case, 34-year-old Keeley A. Brown. Both Brown and the victim are described in court documents as residents of the microhousing building where it happened, near 35th/Avalon, the night of December 1st. The victim said Brown confronted her while she was cleaning up items in a common area and called her a “terrorist” as well as a racial slur, telling her “go back to your country” and adding that people like the victim are why gun rights are needed. Brown then allegedly hit the victim in the head with a crock-pot lid. Another resident told police that Brown had long been harassing other residents, sometimes with racial slurs, but that they believed nothing could be done because of the current eviction moratorium. Brown went into her apartment before police arrived and would not come out; a two-hour standoff ensued, ending with SWAT officers entering Brown’s apartment to arrest her. Court documents say Brown, released from jail the next day on personal recognizance, has no criminal record. She is charged with one count of what is now statutorily described as a “hate-crime offense.”
SIDE NOTE: This is another category of crime that’s been on the rise this year. The day before this incident, the KCPAO held a media briefing about hate crime, saying they had already filed charges in 51 cases this year, compared to 38 last year and 30 in 2018.
(Photo by Stewart L.)
We’ve been reporting for almost two years on advocates’ hopes of saving “Eva’s Stone Cottage,” the little rock-covered house across from Don Armeni Boat Ramp, on a site set for redevelopment. Today, they have launched a community campaign – here’s the announcement:
The stone-studded cottage at 1123 Harbor Ave SW has been a beloved and legendary landmark in West Seattle for 90 years. The wrecking ball is looming and we need help to save this piece of Seattle history.
(Stone Cottage, circa 1940s)
Eva Falk built the cottage in the 1930’s and her children came up with its unique façade of more than 15,000 beach stones. The stones were carried from the beach near the Alki Lighthouse, and each stone was thoughtfully placed by hand on the exterior of the building. Eva told her daughter Carmecita Munoz that “This house is for giving shelter to anybody and anything.” For good reason, one stone placed prominently near the cottage’s front door bears the shape of a heart, welcoming all who entered. Eva passed away in 1997 at age 92.
The Stone Cottage is now surrounded by condos and townhouses and is slated for demolition in January. For more than two years, a group of West Seattle neighbors, Save The Stone Cottage LLC, has joined forces with the Southwest Seattle Historical Society and Historic Seattle, to develop a plan to save the 90-year-old beach home. These community volunteers, working in conjunction with the new property owner, Chainqui Development, have developed a three-phase, adaptive-reuse plan, and have until mid-January 2021 to move the house off the site before the wrecking ball arrives.
The plan involves securing and transporting the structure into temporary storage, siting and selecting its final location, and eventual site placement and structure restoration. Our vision is to preserve the cottage and keep it in the immediate Alki neighborhood, as a place for the community to gather. “Old buildings matter because they tell the story of the city. Once they’re gone, that’s it. You can’t build an old building,” says John Bennett, owner of Bennett Properties and historic-building consultant.
Save The Stone Cottage LLC seeks to raise $110,000 in donations to execute the plan to rescue, relocate, and restore the Stone Cottage. Donations are being accepted through the website www.savethestonecottage.org and a GoFundMe charity account. The Southwest Seattle Historical Society, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, is serving as the fiscal sponsor of the Save the Stone Cottage Project, and has no operational role in this project.
Save The Stone Cottage plans Friday media briefings at which volunteers will talk more about the plan. (That’s also when they expect to launch the crowdfunding page.)
They’re back! West Seattle’s most famous handmade wreaths have returned in the heart of the holiday season. The announcement and photo are from the Pathfinder K-8 Wreath Team:
For the past fifteen years, Pathfinder PTSA has sold homemade holiday wreaths at the West Seattle Farmers’ Market. In recent years we have been in front of Key Bank with our smiling kids, and we know that some community members and parent alumni return each year to purchase one.
Due to the pandemic, we are not at the Farmers’ Market this season, but we are carrying on with the tradition and are wreaths in a socially-distanced way. Each wreath is 100% unique and made from foraged materials from our yards and tree lots. This year’s wreaths are some of our finest!
We’ve set up a Wreath Store online where you can choose your own beautiful wreath. Once purchased, we are asking folks to do a contactless pickup at one of our five mini-workshops in West Seattle.
We thank you for your support! All proceeds will benefit the students at Pathfinder K-8 school.
Adding to the trees/wreaths section in our West Seattle Holiday Guide! westseattleblog@gmail.com if you have holiday info to add.
(WSB photo, South Seattle College, 2018)
One of the achievements touted by Mayor Jenny Durkan in her not-running-again announcement back on Monday was expansion of the Seattle Promise program, which now offers two years of community college to any Seattle Public Schools graduating senior, and is still accepting applications for next year. The program has its roots at South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) on Puget Ridge, which Durkan has visited twice to celebrate the program – in 2017 on her second day in office, and in November 2018 after voters approved the Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy to expand the program. It was originally known as the 13th Year Promise when it launched at SSC more than a decade ago. It offers two-year Seattle Colleges (three campuses including SSC) scholarships to students once they’ve exhausted other private and public funding possibilities, and it now not only covers graduates of all SPS high schools, but also all Seattle Colleges campuses. The city says 846 Seattle Promise students are now enrolled in the SC system – 699 first-year students and 147 second-year students. SSC tells WSB that 225 of them are studying here, 145 first-year students, 80 in their second year. If you are, or know, a Class of 2021 student who wants to join them – you can find out more here.
Two West Seattle Junction Hometown Holidays updates:
(Photo courtesy West Seattle Junction Association)
HOLIDAY PLAYLIST: The Junction welcomes your suggestions for the “Accidental Island” holiday playlist on Spotify:
Join in the easily accessible music playlist you can use as a backdrop for all your winter holiday celebrations. The Junction would love to know what your favorite holiday song is, and songs by local artists are definitely encouraged. Drop your song/artist suggestions in email. The Junction can’t wait to hear your suggestions! Four lucky winners will receive a Hometown Holidays box too!
Email song suggestions to admin@wsjunction.org.
SHOP ‘LIVE’ ONLINE: Instead of Shop Late Thursdays this season, The Junction is spotlighting local retailers in a live Holiday Gift Guide event the next two Thursday nights. Here’s what you’ll see tomorrow night:
Personal gift guides straight from your favorite Junction business owners to you – on your couch! It’s the holiday shopping event of the season – the virtual Junction gift guide. Get your favorite beverage, then sit back and enjoy the absolute best of the best gifts brought to you by the people who hand-curated them – the business owners!
Tune in to hear all about gifts from:
5 PM to 5:30 PM Lika Love Boutique
5:30 PM to 6 PM Carmilia’s
6 PM to 6:30 PM CAPERS
6:30 PM to 7 PM Fleurt
7 PM to 7:30 PM Mystery Made
7:30 PM to 8 PM bin41
Watch live via the Junction Facebook page or each business’s Instagram TV feed. During the event, you’ll be able to shop via comments, direct messages, and/or email.
P.S. If Thursday night doesn’t work, dozens of local independent businesses offer online shopping 24/7 – see the list in our West Seattle Holiday Guidel
6:03 AM: It’s Wednesday, December 9th, the 261st morning without the West Seattle Bridge.
SPEAKING OF BRIDGES
South Park Bridge: Inspection closures are planned for tonight and tomorrow night, 10:30 pm-6 am each night. For bus riders, here’s the Metro advisory:
From Wednesday evening, December 9, through Friday morning, December 11, overnight only from 10:30 PM until 6:00 AM each night, Metro Route 60 will be rerouted in both directions due to the closure of the South Park Bridge for routine operational system testing. During this time, Route 60 heading toward Broadway or Westwood Village will travel via alternate roadways and will not serve the stops on 14th Av S at S Cloverdale St and the stops on 16th Av S at East Marginal Way S.
Terminal 5 Bridge: The Port plans live-load testing starting today. This weekend, that will affect part of West Marginal Way. Details, with maps and times, are here.
OTHER ROAD (ETC.) WORK
Delridge project: Here’s what’s planned for this week, including closing SW Thistle between Delridge and 20th (which hadn’t happened yet as of Tuesday night). According to project-team texts, Hudson and Puget will reopen today, while Brandon on the east side of Delridge will close.
TRANSIT
Metro – Regular schedule.
Water Taxi – Back on regular schedule after last weekend’s dock work.
CHECK TRAFFIC BEFORE YOU GO
West Marginal Way/Highland Park Way:
Highland Park Way/Holden:
The 5-way intersection (Spokane/West Marginal/Delridge/Chelan):
Restricted-daytime-access (open to all 9 pm-5 am) low bridge (note: camera ticketing will NOT start today):
The main detour route across the Duwamish River, the 1st Avenue South Bridge (map) . Here are two cameras:
The other major bridge across the river – the South Park Bridge (map) – see the closure advisory above. Here’s the nearest camera:
Going through South Park? Don’t speed. (Same goes for the other detour-route neighborhoods, like Highland Park, Riverview, and South Delridge.)
Checking for bridges’ marine-traffic openings? See the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed.
You can see all local traffic cams here; locally relevant cameras are also shown on this WSB page.
Trouble on the roads/paths/water? Let us know – text (but not if you’re driving!) 206-293-6302.
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